The present invention relates to a vehicle occupant safety apparatus and more specifically to an inflator for providing inflation fluid to inflate an inflatable vehicle occupant protection device, such as an air bag.
A known inflator for providing inflation fluid for inflating an air bag includes a vessel which holds a combustible mixture of gases under pressure. Upon the occurrence of vehicle deceleration which is indicative of a vehicle collision with a severity above a predetermined threshold and for which inflation of the air bag is desired, an actuator assembly is activated to ignite the mixture of combustible gases. The gases flow from the vessel into the air bag to inflate the air bag. The inflated air bag helps restrain movement of an occupant of the vehicle and thereby helps to protect the occupant of the vehicle from forcibly striking parts of the vehicle.